East High band director Todd Barton understands how hard it is to learn an instrument.
“I started playing in third grade, on a saxophone, and boy, I hated it,” he said.
He stuck with it though. He had a great teacher, and slowly, he started to like it. By seventh grade he was having so much fun that he decided he wanted to be a band director when he grew up. That was nearly half a century ago, but he still gets excited when he talks about teaching.
“Seeing kids grow, both mentally and emotionally, and taking them through that journey is really rewarding,” he said.
He’s been at Bettye Davis East High School in Anchorage for the last two years. The kids there have really impressed him, he said. They are some of the most hardworking he’s seen.
“It's magic. What's happening at East is magic,” he said. “They're awesome. They're incredible. I am daily proud of them.”
But next year, Barton won’t be teaching East High students. In mid-April he got the news that he’ll be transferred to a different Anchorage school. It’s part of a cost-saving measure, after Anchorage voters narrowly opted against a one-year tax increase that would have kept many teachers and programs in place. Now, the Anchorage School District is eliminating nearly 500 positions, including teachers, aides and administration, to reduce expenses. They’re also moving more than 200 teachers around to fill the gaps. Barton, the sole band director at East High, is one of them. Without him, there won’t be anyone to teach the five band classes, effectively killing the program.
East High administrators faced an impossible choice, Barton said. The school district required them to eliminate 13 positions next year, and the school is losing teachers in every subject, not just electives, like band. But the news is still devastating, Barton said.
“I had students walking up to me and just grabbing onto me and sobbing into my shoulder for three to five minutes,” he said. “They couldn't let go. They would not let go. It just went like that for a long time.”
Senior Kenneth Glass plays flute and guitar. He didn’t feel like he had a place at school until he found band. And he said band – and Mr. Barton – helped him through the hardest parts of his life.
“Mr. Barton has been one of the greatest father figures in my life, and he's shown me so much on how to be a better person,” he said.
He’s worried about what’ll happen to students who have to go through school without the program in coming years. There will still be some music classes at East High, like choir, orchestra and ukulele. But it’s not like students can just switch from say, trombone to violin, Glass said. They’ve invested years of work in an instrument and they’re more likely to just quit music. Glass thinks it will affect students' mental health.
“I feel like there will be a lot more kids that are suffering from depression or anxiety, and just like how I was when I first started high school, they don't feel like they have a place,” he said.
Senior Maximus Seanoa plays drums. Band classes have changed him, he said. Before, he never felt comfortable asking for help, relying on people, or having people rely on him.
“I was able to open up and think to myself that reaching out to them isn't weakness,” he said. “It's just me getting out of my comfort zone and me facing my fears.”
Now, he’s the drum major, leading the marching band, encouraging his classmates. He said he learned how from Mr. Barton.
“He was the reason why I got inspired to become the drum major,” he said. “And then I was able to do what he does, inspire other people and everybody else around me.”
Before the cuts, more than a hundred students had signed up for next year’s band classes. For a lot of them, Barton said, those classes are a reason to come to school and to show up on time. The data is clear, he said. Participation in music classes improves attendance, grades and graduation rates.
A lot of times, people think of music as just fun and games, Barton said, but really it should be a core part of the curriculum, because learning music changes the way their brains work. Playing music requires several parts of the brain to fire at once, between understanding rhythms, reading sheet music, and physically performing the music. That forces the brain to learn to process information more quickly, which increases critical thinking skills, Barton said.
The students at East are coming to terms with the news, Barton said, but they’re pushing back too. They’re writing essays and letters, contacting lawmakers. They’re determined, he said.
“Right after I told my kids, we had class,” he said. “While they're in tears, we played, because that's what we do. We make music and we play.”
Barton doesn’t know where he’ll end up next year, but he’ll keep teaching. He hopes his students find a way to keep making music.
